Alamo Drafthouse celebrates "The Summer of 1983"
http://vimeo.com/64586759
I've talked about what an amazing experience it is to watch a film at the Alamo Drafthouse before, and here's an example of some of the cool stuff they have planned this summer. 1983 was a big summer for films with huge releases like Return of the Jedi, National Lampoon's Vacation, Jaws 3D, Octopussy, Risky Business, Scarface, and even more debuting during the hot season. 30 years later, studios would never dare releasing such high profile films with a release lineup as stacked as this. However, Hollywood was a different beast back during the initial 80s boom.
To commemorate such a monumental summer of films, Alamo Drafthouse has scheduled special screenings of the aforementioned movies and more! If you find yourself getting weird in Austin, I highly recommend stopping into a Drafthouse theater and catching some of these classic films. Imagine saying hello to Al Pacino's little friend on a large theater screen with one of the Drafthouse's amazing milkshakes. Austinites, you're living the dream!
You can watch the announcement video below and find the full list of screened films here.
[Trailer] Getaway
http://youtu.be/7ZF4jzMJ1oI
On-screen chemistry is one of the most important aspects when it comes to a film. Two of the most talented actors in Hollywood could be paired together in a film, but if they lack chemistry, it's gonna be noticeable and, ultimately, weight the entire film down. With this debut trailer for Getaway, the question of chemistry is brought up, and with good reason.
Ethan Hawke (Before Midnight) stars as Brent Magna, a former race car driver, who must rescue his kidnapped wife from a mysterious man (Jon Voight). To do so, the kidnapper puts Brent through a series of challenges, which also includes hijacking a young girl's car, played by Selena Gomez (Springbreakers). Even in this first trailer, you can tell there's a disconnect between Gomez and Hawke. I liked Gomez' role in Springbreakers, and I'm a huge fan of Hawke's work, but the two of them together, in an action/race thriller seems... off. Also, weirdly enough, a lot of the cop cars in the trailer have a tendency to flip vertically as if they're being plowed by those tumbler cars in Fast & Furious 6.
However, I'll withhold judgment until August 30th, when the film is released to theaters. You can watch the trailer for Getaway below or in HD on the film's iTunes Movie Trailers page.
[Trailer] Insidious Chapter 2
[youtube id="RqezKZov1fo"]
The next chapter in the Insidious story has just been unveiled. James Wan, director of the first Insidous and creator of the Saw franchise, is returning to direct the next in the occult horror film, Insidious Chapter 2. The film takes place after its precursor where evil spirits have followed Josh Lambert (Patrick Wilson) to his home. Of course, those who've seen the first film know that he's hiding a secret.
The trailer hints at all of the scary shenanigans to be seen, including ominous baby monitor voices, flickering candles, mysterious voices, and a litany of horror tropes. It's good to see the original cast of Wilson (Watchmen), Rose Byrne (Bridesmaids), Lin Shaye (Cellular), and Ty Simpkins (Iron Man 3). It'll be interesting to see what Wan and screenwriter Leigh Whannell (Saw) are capable of doing to further expand on the Insidious story when it hits theaters on September 13th.
Warner Bros. traded South Park and Friday the 13th for Interstellar stake
Film properties aren't like baseball cards or Pokemon, but I guess word didn't get to Warner Bros. and Paramount Pictures. Christopher Nolan's upcoming film, Interstellar (which I talked about a bit awhile back), is set to be a huge blockbusting, money-making machine when it hits theaters in 2014. Interestingly, the film is being co-produced by Warner Bros. and Paramount Pictures, two rival studios that don't normally work together. In fact, it's practically unheard of for two different studios to co-produce films, especially films with the level of magnitude that Interstellar has.
Today, The Hollywood Reporter found out exactly what happened that allowed such a move to be made. When Paramount distributed Friday the 13th domestically, Warner Bros. handled international distribution, which complicated who exactly held the rights for the franchise. Freddy vs. Jason, however, was purchased by Warner Bros, but Paramount still had a 50% stake due to the initial Friday the 13th film rights. Something similar took place with South Park, as Comedy Central used to be co-owned by Time Warner and Viacom, Paramount's parent company. When Viacom split its TV networks from Time Warner, WB still possessed rights to the South Park film, handling international distribution.
Because of these joint ventures, each studio had a claim in the franchises, complicating future projects. Paramount, trusting in both Nolan's talents and Interstellar's box office potential, offered to let Warner Bros. get a percentage of the return if they relinquished their hold on future Friday the 13th and South Park films. However, if Paramount doesn't produce a sequel for the films within the next five years, co-ownership will return to WB.
It's all complicated Hollywood business deals, but money talks, and in the case of Interstellar, it's doing more than just talking. This news also brings the prospect of big screen returns for Stan, Kenny, Kyle, Cartman, and Jason Voorhees, which should be great news for both horror and South Park fans.
[via The Hollywood Reporter]
[Trailer] The To Do List
[yahoo id="movies.yahoo.com/video/list-redband-trailer-2-195016428"]
Back in 2011, there was this lovely little movie being developed called The Hand Job that was gonna star Aubrey Plaza (Safety Not Guaranteed) as an inexperienced high school graduate desperate to have her first sexual experiences to prepare herself for college. Of course, MPAA wasn't going to green-light the name of the film, and it was unceremoniously changed to The To Do List. Sure, it still carries the sexual innuendo of the original title, but come on... imagine watching a film starring Plaza discovering her sexuality.
Fast forward two years, and the first footage of the film has been released. Joining Plaza in the film is an ensemble cast that includes Donald Glover (AKA Childish Gambino), Rachel Bilson (The O.C.), Johnny Simmons (Scott Pilgrim vs. the World), Alia Shawkat (Arrested Development), Clark Gregg (The Avengers), Bill Hader (SNL), and Christopher Mintz-Plasse (Superbad). Given the film's premise, a majority of the jokes will be raunchy, but from a female protagonist's perspective. If Bridesmaids has proven anything, it's that Hollywood really needs more female-driven comedies. Hopefully The To Do List will be a good step in the right direction.
You can check The To Do List off your own to-do list when it hits theaters on July 26th.
[Trailer] Coffee Town
http://youtu.be/MagOLStZWvs
CollegeHumor has been arguably one of the destinations for online comedy for years. I remember watching all of the Derrick Comedy videos years back before Donald Glover won everybody over with his hilarious portrayal of Troy Barnes on Community (let alone taking us to Camp as Childish Gambino). With a series of funny video shorts under their belt, the brand is ready to take the next step in entertainment: films. CollegeHumor is teaming up with independent movie distributor FilmBuff for its feature-length film debut, Coffee Town.
Starring It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia's Glenn Howerton, Coffee Town is about Howerton's Will, a website manager whose "office" is a table at a local coffee house. However, when the cafe begins plans to grow into a bistro, threatening Will's entire business, he enlists the aid from his friends (Parks and Recreation's Ben Schwartz and Eastbound & Down's Steve Little) to stage a break-in at the cafe in an attempt to sway investors away from the neighborhood.
Coffee Town is looking really funny, which honestly can't be said for most film trailers. Hopefully, the best jokes weren't featured in this first look at the film, which will be released on digital platforms July 9th with CollegeHumor-hosted limited theatrical screenings throughout North America before it debuts at Montreal's Just for Laughs festival on July 27th.
You can watch the trailer in full HD on iTunes Movie Trailers.
Benicio del Toro cast in Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy
Whoa! Huge news out of the Disney and Marvel camps as Deadline is reporting that Benicio del Toro (Traffic) has been cast for Marvel's upcoming space epic, Guardians of the Galaxy. The James Gunn (Super) film is shaping up to be Marvel Studios' next big ensemble film. Just this weekend, Doctor Who actress Karen Gillan was cast for a villain role in the action-comedy about a group of space superheroes.
While there's no word on which role del Toro will portray, he's joining a pool of ridiculously talented actors, such as Glenn Close (Damages), Chris Pratt (Parks and Recreation), Zoe Saldana (Avatar), John C. Reilly (Chicago), Lee Pace (The Hobbit), and others. Further news also have del Toro penning a multi-film deal, which will set him up for future film appearances along other notable Marvel stars as Robert Downey, Jr, Samuel L. Jackson, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Chris Hemsworth, Jeremy Renner, Natalie Portman, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Cobie Smulders (amongst others, of course).
As if Marvel didn't already have a large handle on superhero film adaptations, del Toro's casting helps cement their status. Looks like Warner Bros. and DC will have to do a lot if they want to get even close to Marvel Studio's pedigree.
[via Deadline]
[Trailer] Wara No Tate (Shield of Straw)
http://youtu.be/NX52yaQ_CIo
My introduction to Takashi Miike started off on the wrong foot. A classmate of mine lent me Audition, emphasizing just how talented the director was. Of course, Audition ended up being a gruesome horror film... from what I heard; I admittedly didn't make it past the first 20 minutes due to the intensity of the film. My next encounter with the beloved director, Ichi the Killer, went way better (and if you haven't seen Ichi the Killer, do it right now, this very second). Since then, Takashi Miike has had his American cult following grow even more with films like Sukiyaki Western: Django, 13 Assassins, and Hara-Kiri: Death of a Samurai.
With the trailer for his new film, Wara No Tate (Shield of Straw), Takashi takes his own spin on the vigilante genre. As the plot goes, Kunihide Kiyomaru (played by Battle Royale's Tatsuya Fujiwara) confesses to the murder of a 7-year old girl. In an act of revenge, the girl's grandfather puts out a public message: 1 billion Yen for the murder of Kiyomaru. With the entire population thrown into a chaotic frenzy, the police must protect the alleged murderer from desperate vigilantes so he can face proper justice.
Outside of the cheesy J-Pop music, Wara No Tate is looking amazing. There's no word on a US release date yet, but considering it's already been released in Japan, I suspect a fall date should be within reason.